AN ENORMOUS logistical exercise rarely seen outside of the Repco Supercars Championship will be responsible for safely delivering the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia grid to New Zealand and then home again.
Round 2 of Australia’s top one-make championship will see the category compete outside of Australian soil for just the second time in series history when they compete at the ITM Taupo Super400 on April 19-21.
Freight logistics have been provided by Gibson Freight, who have decades of experience shipping entire racing categories around the world.
The challenge to ship the entire Porsche grid to Taupo commenced with the scheduling of the 2024 calendar, including the date of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
That date saw a tight turnaround between cars finishing on track in Melbourne and the dates required to load and seal containers for shipping across the Tasman.
With Round 1 of the championship completed on Saturday evening, a majority of teams remained within the Porsche precinct in Albert Park on Sunday to prepare cars before returning to workshops or loading directly on Monday and Tuesday following the event.
Eleven 40″ shipping containers have been used to freight the entire field to New Zealand, two of which have departed from Queensland and the remainder from Gibson’s Melbourne base in Tullamarine. They were loaded following the Grand Prix event while teams were in town.
Six containers will carry the vehicles themselves, while the remainder has been allocated to take spare parts, team pit equipment and other necessities required for racing away from home.
This includes the usual array of spare parts provided by Porsche Motorsport for teams to access at the circuit if required.
Eleven containers will be used to return the field home with cars and equipment delivered back to their respective home ports in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as required.
The total freight weighs more than 35,000 kilograms, with 19 Australian cars making the journey. Multiple Kiwi additions will join them at Taupo.
In addition to Gibson Freight’s enormous support, the Giltrap Group and Porsche Motorsport New Zealand have provided logistical support at the New Zealand end.
In total, more than 100 people will travel from Australia purely to support the second round of Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, in addition to the large number working on Supercars teams and series management.
